Synopsis for "Vengeance of Bane"

Past

Many years ago on the island of Santa Prisca, a group of revolutionaries conducted a failed coup against the reigning government. Those that survived the three day massacre were arrested and detained at the prison facility known as Peña Duro. One of the prisoners was a slender woman, heavy with child.

Her husband was one of many killed during the bloody campaign. In accordance to a centuries old law, the punishment of the father must be carried out towards the son, should the father fail to survive in order to serve his sentence. The woman gave birth to her child, and he was raised a prisoner in the deepest pits of Peña Duro.

When he was only six years old, his mother died from exhaustion and despair, and he was forced to bear witness as the prison guards callously threw her corpse into shark-infested waters off the cliffs of Punto De Tiburon. Completely alone, the child became prey to the savage inmates at Peña Duro. Rather than succumb to the pressures of prison life, he grew stronger from it, and eventually took to calling himself Bane.

As Bane grew older, he earned the attention of several other inmates including an aging physician named Zombie, a brutish man named Trogg, and an American named Bird. These men recognized Bane’s strength and value and pledged to follow him loyally.

Bane eventually became the most feared man in all of Peña Duro. The prison's warden grew nervous as he came to realize that the prisoners under his charge had more to fear from Bane, than from the warden himself. In order to demoralize the prisoners, the warden had Bane placed in solitary confinement for ten years. The inhumane treatment only served to strengthen Bane even more, and when he emerged his reputation had become the stuff of legend.

In later years, a scientific research team established themselves at Peña Duro, and used the prison for a source of resources with which to conduct their experiments. They developed a steroid compound code named Venom and tested the drug on many prisoners. However, none of the men that had been put through the Venom process were strong enough to survive the procedure. The warden selected Bane as the science team’s next volunteer.

Bane's physical hardiness and unbreakable resolve enabled him to survive the process. The Venom drug increased his overall muscle mass, endurance and strength enormously, and he became nearly unstoppable.

At this point, Bane decided to leave Peña Duro forever. He faked his own death, knowing that the prison guards would cast his body off of Punto De Tiburon, just as they had done with his mother, years before. When his body hit the water, Bane revived himself and took command of an army helicopter. Gathering together his friends, Zombie, Bird and Trogg, he killed the warden and left the island of Santa Prisca.

Present

Bird tells Bane about his home town of Gotham City. Bane becomes enraptured when he hears the legend of Gotham’s nocturnal protector, the Batman. He decides that in order to prove that he is superior to all men – he must find and destroy this Batman. First however, he helps Bird get revenge upon one of his old adversaries, a gangster named Jimmy No-Nose (posthumously known as "Jimmy No-Nose, Eyes, Ears or Lips").

After slaughtering Jimmy, Bane makes his presence known to the leaders of Gotham's underworld by killing members of the Manklin crime family. This act draws the attention of the Batman. Bane sizes Batman up, and decides that he is not yet ready to fight him. He first wants to understand his foe's nature before taking action. He warns Batman that he will come for him... soon.

Notes

This issue is the first appearance of Bane. Shortly following the events from this special, Bane becomes a provincial member of Batman's Rogues Gallery.